In brief: Dog rescued six days after deadly crash

A dog that survived an all-terrain vehicle crash that killed two people last week didn’t sustain any injuries as a result of the 500-foot fall or her six days in the wilderness.

Rescuers found Daisy the dachshund Saturday in a small hole about 800 feet from the top of the Bernard Overlook at the southern end of Lake Pend Oreille east of Athol.

The driver, Thomas McTevia, 42, of Coeur d’Alene, and his friend Tina Hoisington, 45, of Lewiston, had the dog with them when their ATV went over the cliff on April 19. Both died in the crash, and the dog couldn’t be found in the days after.

“We knew she was out there,” said McTevia’s sister, Laura Bess. “We just didn’t know if she was dead or alive.”

The rescuers wrapped Daisy in a blanket and took her to a veterinarian.

“To have this little bit of hope, and something to hang on to, to cheer for and love the way that he would have, that is just golden,” said Dena Hankins, one of McTevia’s friends.

Associated Press

A Spokane woman and her husband hired a man to attack her former employer at Mamma Mia restaurant after a fight over scheduling in February, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Kaylee R. Zornes, 26, and Austin D. Tinsley, 30, face criminal counts of assault with a deadly weapon and criminal conspiracy after investigators linked them to an attack on the owner of the Mamma Mia restaurant at 420 W. Francis Ave. in February. The victim told police he was attacked by  a man with a ninja-like mask and a baseball bat just before midnight Feb. 7.

The alleged assailant, Just E. Rodney, was arrested minutes later near the restaurant.

Zornes spoke with police in March and denied any knowledge of the attack. But investigators questioned Rodney’s girlfriend, who said she contacted both Zornes and Tinsley about the attack. The woman’s cellphone contained a voice mail from the day of the attack in which Tinsley says he has “a job” for Rodney.

Kip Hill

Gunshot wound victim identified

The 36-year-old man found dying of an accidental gunshot wound in the East Central neighborhood on Saturday was struck in the thigh, according to the Spokane County medical examiner.

An autopsy identified David J. Darling as the driver found wounded near Fifth Avenue and Magnolia Street around 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Police were initially puzzled by the suspicious circumstances of the gunshot wound but later said it appeared the incident was accidental.

The medical examiner’s report did not list a manner of death, citing a further investigation by the Spokane Police Department. The bullet struck Darling’s femoral artery in his left thigh, according to the report.

Darling pleaded guilty to vehicular assault, a felony, in 2006 after striking a fence in his car, injuring a 17-year-old passenger, and fleeing the scene, according to court records. Police did not say Monday whether the gun that fired in Saturday’s incident was legally owned and registered.

A Spokane police officer performed CPR after Darling was found unresponsive. He was declared dead at the scene.

Kip Hill